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Rocket Release
Pope County Tribune - Starbuck Times
Written by Chad Koenen - Starbuck Times New Editor   
Friday, 26 June 2009 07:54


However, Kirkwold would soon learn his secret guitar sessions weren't so secretive afterall, when he came home from school one day to find the guitar with broken strings and a note on the kitchen table. Kirkwold said the note simply said, "here you figure this out" as he was forced to learn how to fix all of the strings on the guitar.

But the incident only fueled his desire to become a great musician.

"It really became a passion quickly and it was all I really wanted to do," he said.

After receiving a scholarship from the Lakes Area Arts Council to learn from a jazz guitarist in Osakis around the age of 16, Kirkwold said he decided he wanted to make an effort to make music more than a hobby, but a profession.

"I decided from that point on, I really wanted to give this a shot when I got out of high school," he said.

Upon graduation from Minnewaska Area High School in 1992, Kirkwold went to college in the Twin Cities to study music. He said he made a deal with his parents that if after one year of studying music he didn't have what it took, he would drop out and go to a more conventional college. But not only did Kirkwold find success at the college, he flourished. By his second year, he earned a scholarship and found himself doing much more than just playing guitar. To help bands who didn't have a singer, Kirkwold found himself playing guitar, singing lead, backup, anything to get into the studio.

After his second year of college Kirkwold played in a variety of bands in the Twin Cities area and even returned to his alma mater to work for a short period of time before joining the Johnny Holm Band.

Though he said joining the Johnny Holm Band was a great experience, a unique opportunity as studio manager ultimately led Kirkwold to find himself on the other side of the studios glass. Shortly after taking the new gig, Kirkwold said "I quickly realized I was the world's worst studio manager," often spending more time helping the bands work on their record and sound, rather than trying to keep the studio booked with paying customers. While his boss ultimately agreed with the notion of Kirkwold's shortfall as a studio manager, the experience led him to a profession as a music producer and starting his own company known as World Record Production. As a producer, Kirkwold enjoyed a lot of regional success helping such bands as Quietdrive make it big.

However, the drive to succeed as a musician never fully left the Starbuck native. He eventually sold the production company and joined up with a group of friends to form the new band Rocket Club.

Kirkwold said the band officially formed about a year ago, but he said they have known each other for quite some time and performed together for a while prior to becoming a band. He said the group released their debut album in January, and quickly received good praise from radio stations in the Twin Cities, most notably K102 and Cities 97 whom both have played singles from the band.

"Everything kind of fell together and it's been a lot of fun," he said.

Promotional materials from the band dub the band as storytellers pulling from a variety of different musical influences like the Eagles. With most of the band having been in the music industry for quite some time, and given their age, Kirkwold said the group is more concerned with making sure the vocals and music are great.

With each member of the band having a family and full-time job on top of the band, he said the group carefully chooses what concerts they book as to allow plenty of time for family and friends.

"Everybody has a life so we are very selective on how we spend our time," he said.

In addition to the band, Kirkwold also writes music for commercials, something he said is "an amazing job." He has also recently been on Twin Cities Live when he played guitar for American Idolist Casey Carlson.

"Time has shown if I keep working at this it keeps getting better, and it gets to be more fun," he said.

Some of their upcoming shows include the Minnesota Zoo, Aquatennial, and Minnesota State Fair in August.

Stages and crowds which are a far cry from the solo performances in the attic of his Starbuck home.